Christie to sign arbitration cap

TRENTON – Gov. Chris Christie is set to sign into law a bill that would extend the cap on arbitration awards to New Jersey’s police and firefighters.

Tuesday’s bill signing comes after the governor and Democrats worked out a compromise to revive the cap that expired April 1.

Christie hailed the original 2 percent cap adopted in 2011 as a key for towns to comply with a law that keeps property taxes from rising by more than 2 percent per year, with certain exceptions.

Under the compromise, the cap would be relaxed slightly. Arbitrators can now award annual raises of 2 percent over the previous year’s wages rather than 2 percent per year compared with the end of the previous contract.